North & South – June 2019

80 | NORTH & SOUTH|JUNE 2019

ARTS

T

heyaresmallthings,simple

things,butthingsthattell

a lifestory.They’rethings

CambodianswhosurvivedPol

Pot’skillingfields,andpiteous

refugeecamps,broughttoNewZealand

withthemandhavekeptastouchstones

oftheirformerlife.Andthey’rethings

thatCambodianphotographerKimHak

istravellingtheworldtodocument,the

imagesappearinginhisexhibitionAlive,

whichopensinAucklandinJune.

PolPot’sKhmerRougetookoverCam-

bodiain1975,forcingthepopulation

intothecountrysideandimplementing

a communistagrariansociety.Minori-

ties,thoseassociatedwiththeprevious

regime,andthosewhowereeducated

werekilled;abouta quarterofthecoun-

try’spopulationdiedbeforetheKhmer

Rougewereoustedin1979.Hundredsof

thousandsmorefledtorefugeecamps

alongtheThaiborderandinMalaysia,

beforebeinggivensanctuaryincoun-

trieslikeNewZealand.

Kim’sownfamilysurvivedtheKhmer

Rougebutlostmostoftheirposses-

sions.However,hismotherhadsaveda

fewpreciousphotosoftheirlifebefore-

hand,wrappingthemina plasticbag

andburyingthemtoavoidtheirdiscov-

erybytheKhmerRouge.Ifthey’dbeen

found,thephotoswouldhaverevealed

his father was educated and had worked

REMAINS OF

THEIR DAYS

Photographer KimHak has documented the

keepsakesoffellow CambodianswhoescapedPol

Pot’skilling fieldsfor newlivesinNew Zealand. He

talks to Mike White about his exhibitionAlive.

MikeWhiteisNorth&South’s
senior writer.
MIKE WHITE